Infiltrating Your Heart (31 page)

“I called the police. Anonymously,” I
say. “I made sure that bastard isn’t free to kidnap anyone again.”

“That is strange,” Patrick says,
rubbing his chin. “Has anything else like this happened?”

I think for a moment.

“Yeah. Some jerk blew out my car
tires the week before my almost-kidnapping. Gabriel took care of it.”

Patrick didn’t look happy at all.

“Also, someone was following me while
I was waiting for Gabriel to come pick me up. I managed to escape the stalker.”

Patrick turns his back on me, shaking
his head.

“What is it?” I ask. It takes a full
minute before he answers me.

“I feared this would happen,” Patrick
says, turning back to me. I blink.

“What do you mean?”

Patrick sighs.

“Remember the bastard I rescued you
from, the night we first met?”

I nod.

“It turns out that he worked for a
crime ring. They kidnap young, attractive women…and then exploit them
sexually.”

I’m confused.

“You’re not bluffing? These people
are angry with me just because I killed one of their pawns?”

Patrick purses his lips before
replying.

“He wasn’t just a pawn. I hear that
he was a heavier guy than that.”

“How…how do you know all this?”

“I have my connections inside the police.
There’s also something you must know.”

Could there be anything worse?

“The
ruffian is alive.”

~*~
Gabriel

After visiting my parents, I drive
back to my place. The first thing I’m going to do is call Mercedes. We’re going
to have fun in the water again.

Just as I climb the stairs to my
floor, I see someone walking in the opposite direction I’m coming from. When I
see who it is, I stop.

“Hey, Rod,” I greet. Roderick looks
at me in surprise.

“Gabriel! How are you doing, bro? I
stopped by your apartment, but you weren’t there.”

“I’m here now,” I say. “Let’s go
inside.”

Roderick and I walk to my apartment.
Once we’re there, I pour two cups of coffee for ourselves.

“Thanks,” Roderick says, taking his
cup. I sit down on the other side of the couch.

“How have you been doing?” I ask.

“I should ask you that. Ciara told me
about you and Evelyn.”

I nod, sighing.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“What exactly happened?”

“I simply fell in love with another
woman. Her name’s Mercedes. We met weeks ago, at the Sports Authority. From the
first time I saw her, I felt something. I tried to deny my growing feelings for
her, but I had to face the truth. I’d met the love of my life, and it wasn’t
Evelyn.”

Roderick grimaces.

“How did she take the truth?”

“Better than I expected. I took her
to a restaurant to tell her.”

Roderick frowns.

“Are you sure you did the right
thing? You’ve jumped ship to a woman you’ve only known for weeks. You and
Evelyn have been together for years.”

“Everyone’s asked me that,” I say,
shaking my head. “Trust me. I love Mercedes like I haven’t loved any other
woman in my life.”

Roderick raises his eyebrows.

“She must be a real looker to have
you this crazy,” he says, chuckling.

“You have
no
idea.”

We talk for a few more minutes. Then
someone else knocks on the door.

“I’ll see who it is,” I tell
Roderick. When I answer the door, Evelyn is standing outside. She looks up at
me when the door opens. Her expression looks less bright than usual, but not
unhappy.

“Hi, Gabriel. May I come in?”

“Sure.”

I stand aside, and Evelyn walks in.
Roderick stands up from the couch.

“Good afternoon, Evelyn.”

“Thanks, Roderick. Same.”

I ask Evelyn if she wants coffee. She
nods, so I go pour her a cup. When I return, she’s sitting on the sofa, in the
place I vacated.

“Here,” I say.

“Thanks.”

“I’ll leave you two so you can talk,”
Roderick says. He stands up. “See you around.”

“Take care,” I tell him. Roderick
then leaves the room. I sit down next to Evelyn.

“How have you been?” I ask.

“Fine,” Evelyn says. She drinks some coffee.

Although I think Evelyn’s telling the
truth, I know that she’s not entirely okay. I wish things could have turned out
in a different way.

Evelyn sighs, and then continues.

“I finally told my parents the truth
last Thursday. It took me that long to pluck up the courage.”

I imagine the worst.

“How did they take it?”

“They weren’t happy. Especially dad.
It was hard to convince him not to go and break down your door.

I whistle.

“I never thought he was that
volatile.”

“You must understand where he’s coming
from. It’s not every day your daughter tells you that your would-be fiancé left
you for another woman.”

When Evelyn puts it that way, I get
her point. If I had a daughter, I would hate it if she had to go through what
Evelyn must be going through.

“I’m sorry.”

Those are the only words I’m able to
come up with right now. I reach forward and take one of Evelyn’s hands,
enclosing it with both of mine. My intention is to reassure her. Evelyn looks
at me.

“I assume you haven’t seen the paper,
have you?”

A look of confusion crosses my face.

“I don’t subscribe, I get my news
online. Why?”

In response, Evelyn reaches into her
purse. She pulls out a newspaper and hands it to me. I open it and scan the
pages. There’s a story inside that mentions Evelyn is single again.

“
This
made the paper?” I ask.

“You know perfectly well that I’m
high-society. My family is second only to the Mayor’s in prominence.”

I nod. With the news that Evelyn
Carroll is available, lots of single men will eagerly step up to fill the void
I left. But I know Evelyn well enough to know that it’ll be some time before
she dates anyone again.

“Who sent this to the paper, anyway?”

“I don’t know. But that doesn’t
matter.”

I leave the paper on my coffee table.

“Gabriel, I want to ask you
something.”

Here we go again. I can guess what
her question is.

“Are you sure about what you’re
doing? It’s odd that you’ve fallen in love with another woman in such a short
amount of time.”

“There’s no logic to love, Evelyn. It
just happens. I’m sure about Mercedes.”

Evelyn looks into my eyes, searching
for any hint of doubt in them. Then she nods.

“I still care about you, Gabriel. I
wanted to make sure you weren’t making a mistake you’ll regret.”

“I love you. But I’d regret letting
Mercedes go. Love like that only comes once, ever.”

Evelyn smiles.

“If you’re this sure, then I won’t
stand in your way, Gabriel. I’ll let you be happy with her.”

“Thanks.”

Evelyn says nothing. She finishes her
coffee and places the cup on the coffee table, next to the newspaper.

“I have to go,” Evelyn says, standing
up. I follow suit.

“Are you mad at me?” I ask. She
pauses for a second, and then looks at me.

“I was. Not anymore, but it’ll still
take some time for me to feel normal again.”

“If there’s anything I can do for
you, I’ll be more than glad to do it.”

“Don’t worry, Gabriel. Time heals all
wounds.”

I walk Evelyn to my front door,
unable to think of anything else to say. She opens the door, and walks out.
Evelyn looks at me and smiles faintly before leaving.

Mercedes

Patrick urges me to get in his car
after his revelation. He barely gives me time to tell Dad that I’m heading back
to my apartment. I’m glad he agreed to take care of my Jet Ski. My apartment
building has nowhere I can keep it.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask. I’m
still having a hard time wrapping my head around things.

“To start your training early. You
said you’re starting on Monday, but this cannot wait.”

“You think I’m in that much danger?”

“Don’t joke about it, Mercedes. These
people are more dangerous than you think.”

I try not to gape at Patrick. How
does he know all this stuff? He’s supposed to be just a DJ. Maybe he watches a
lot of action movies.

“What threat could he possibly be to
me, anyway? The bastard must still be in bad shape at the hospital after what I
did to him.”

“This guy has lackeys who can
retaliate for him.”

“I can defend myself just fine,
Patrick. I’ve gotten away twice, haven’t I? And I studied aikido.”

Patrick laughs mockingly.

“Not even your dog would believe
that.”

Ouch. I’m unable to find a suitable
retort.

Patrick pulls outside a house. I
don’t know where in the city we are. Judging by the sea breeze, I guess we’re
in the southeast.

“Whose house is this?”

“A friend of mine’s. She’s a police
officer. Her name’s Isabel. She looks cute at first glance, but she can hit you
like a trailer.”

Great. I can guess exactly what
Patrick has in mind. I wish I hadn’t told him anything.

Patrick and I walk to the front door.
He knocks on it. Seconds later, a dark blonde woman answers.

“Patrick,” she greets. Her voice
sounds pleasant, but it borders on frigid.

“Good morning, Isabel. This is
Mercedes.”

Isabel looks at me. She flashes a
warm smile, and we shake hands.

“She’s beautiful, Patrick. No wonder
you want her to learn how to keep herself safe.”

Patrick chuckles.

“A guy would be lucky to have her,
wouldn’t he? She’s my brother’s girlfriend, actually. Mercedes has suffered two
robbery attempts in the past few weeks. We thought it imperative to teach her
self-defense.”

Isabel nods.

“Come in. We can talk inside.”

Isabel steps aside to let us both in.
Then she closes the door. My first impression of the living room is that Isabel
likes to keep stuff clean.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“We’re fine. Thank you,” Patrick
says. The three of us sit on the sofa.

“So, what can I do to help you?”
Isabel asks.

“I want to help Mercedes get a
concealed weapons license. And I want you to train her in self-defense basics.
Mercedes starts taking classes with Shane Howell next week. However, my brother
is madly in love with her. Monday just isn’t soon enough.”

Isabel smiles, as if she knows
Gabriel well.

“Men. Always overprotective of the
women they love. But I can’t blame Gabriel. You say Mercedes has had
two
robbery
attempts?”

“Unfortunately,” I say.

“That’s some strange business. Does
anyone have a beef with you?” Isabel asks me. I look at Patrick. He hasn’t told
her the whole truth, so I shake my head.

“Not that I know of.”

Isabel analyzes me, wondering if I’m
telling the truth. Then she turns away.

“I’ll help you with the weapons
license. Now, follow me. I want to see how good you are in combat.”

Isabel stands up and walks out of the
room. I gape at her, and then turn to Patrick.

“You do know aikido, don’t you?”